Hillary Clinton took aim at her top Republican and Democratic opponents on Monday when she accused Donald Trump of “inciting mob violence” at his events and knocked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as “just reflexively against anything that has any international implication.”
Clinton, during a town hall organized by MSNBC, said that she holds Trump responsible for the rash of violence that has come to define his events. The former secretary of state said rhetoric like Trump’s is one reason African-American voters have largely deserted the Republican Party.
“When you are inciting mob violence, which his what Trump is doing in those clips, there is a lot of memories that people have,” Clinton said, responding to clips from Trump’s speeches.
“People remember mob violence that led to lynching, people remember mob violence that led to people being shot, being grabbed, being mistreated,” Clinton said. “It is something that has a deep, psychological resonance to people who ever have been in any position somewhat fearful, somewhat worried.”
As Democrats have adjusted to the strong possibility that Trump, the Republican front-runner and brash businessman, will likely be their opponent in November, Clinton has turned up her rhetoric against him.
“I do hold him responsible. I think if you go back several months, he has been building this incitement,” Clinton said, before joking about the fact that Trump made his name in the political world by questioning President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and legitimacy as president of the United States.
“I have my birth certificate ready, in triplicate,” Clinton said with a laugh.
Clinton also called Trump a “dangerous force” during a commercial break at the event hosted at the Old State House in Illinois capital. The former first lady said the media treats him like “candy by the bushel” with the amount he is talked about on cable TV.
“Man, you guys cannot talk stop talking about him,” she told host Chris Matthews.
Trump was not the only politician Clinton knocked on Monday. The Democratic front-runner also hit Sanders for coming out against a host of international agreements before they were finalized.
“His position is so anti — He is against things before they are even finished, before they are read,” she said.
Clinton noted how Sanders was against the Trans Pacific Partnership, a massive 12-country trade deal, before it was finalized in 2015.
“He is just reflexively against anything that has any international implication,” Clinton said.
Clinton is currently locked in a tight battle with Sanders for five states that will vote on Tuesday.
